Rhea Ripley chatted with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport following last night’s Royal Rumble premium live event. She discussed the injuries she sustained, which belt she might chase at WrestleMania, and comparisons to WWE Hall of Famer Chyna.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
Discussing the injuries she suffered during the match: “So, I just have knee problems. I’ve always had them growing up playing soccer. My kneecap just sometimes slides out of place, and it like sort of goes to the side. Sometimes it will go to the very back of my knee, and then I just have to straighten it, and it goes back. It hasn’t done it for years. So I don’t know what made it do it. I guess I haven’t drank enough water today or eaten enough. Yeah, it slid out for a little bit, but I popped it back in straight away. I mean it happened maybe halfway through, maybe a little bit earlier. I wasn’t too worried because to be honest the rest of my body was pretty cramped anyway so I just sort of ignored it. And my nose was busted too, so all I could smell was blood and it was just everywhere but I live for this stuff, you know.”
The comparisons to Chyna: “I think it’s cool. I want people to keep saying that. I know Kofi [Kingston] said that he wants to see me go for the IC title, and I’m so down for it. I love being compared to Chyna. I know I get a lot of hate, which at the same time is weird, but I understand where it’s coming from where like, ‘You can’t be the next Chyna!’ Yeah, I know. I can’t be the next Chyna. She was absolutely amazing, and she was herself, and she was unique to her, but I’m the first Rhea Ripley. And if I can get somewhat compared to her like I’m doing something right, but I’m also going to be doing it in my own special way sort of tweaking way. But yeah, I love to see it.”
Which belt she might go for: “I don’t know, bro! I’m thinking. I know I got a lot of thinking to do. I got chemistry with both of them girls. I’ve gone to war with both of them multiple times. There’s incentives for me to go to Bianca [Belair] and there’s incentives for me to go to Charlotte [Flair], so I’m going to sit down and have a big think about this one.”
The competition between the men’s and women’s divisions: “So I’ve watched bits and pieces of theirs [the men’s Rumble]. Obviously, I was out there for a little bit as well. I got Speared on the concrete. Thank you, Beth [Phoenix]. But you know, I got up, and I won it, so it doesn’t matter. But yeah, there’s always competition between us and the men. Normally, the women were always on first, so the thing that we say is ‘follow that,’ but we were on second this time, so obviously, we’ve been doing it right the last few years because we’ve made it down the card. We got to go on semi-main and really put on a show, and get the time and just go out there and show everyone what the women can do.”
